Shun beef, pregnant women told

Fertility of male offspring can be affected by
excessive beef eating.

March 26, 2007: Shun beef, is what docs
have to say to pregnant women these days. The
reason: Excess beef during pregnancy is likely to
affect fertility of the male offspring.

A report said that researchers at the New York’s
University of Rochester Medical Center have found
that sons of mothers who ate beef seven or more
times a week had low sperm counts. Relating this
phenomenon to the anabolic of growth hormones used
to treat cattle, the scientists have added that
pesticides might adversely affect the developing
testes of the unborn foetus leading to low sperm
counts. Shocking, indeed.

The researchers at the University of Rochester
Medical Center undertook the study and found that
there are mothers who ate beef at least four times
a week on an average. As many as 51 said they
consumed beef seven or more times a week. This
group of heavy beef eaters was also more likely to
have consumed large quantities of red meat as
well, the report added.

It has also been found that men whose mothers ate
huge quantity of beef during pregnancy had a 24
percent lower sperm count than men whose mothers
had a lesser intake of the meat. The
growth-promoting hormones used in cattle were to
blame. It has been widely reported that natural as
well as synthetic hormones are used for promoting
growth in cattle in the US and Canada. A report
added that estradiol, progesterone and
testosterone are the natural hormones, while
zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol
acetate are synthetic

Scientists have suggested a remedy too to snip
such mishaps. Pregnant women who are addicted to
beef can try out hormone-free beef or organic
beef. However, they hasten to add that it's not
proven to have positive effects. Explaining the
phenomenon, a report said that when cattle are
slaughtered, all hormones are not metabolized.
These hormones can easily pass the placental
barrier and affect the unborn foetus, it said.